Sunday, August 4, 2013

Silver-bordered Fritillary

The silver-bordered fritillary is medium sized brushfoot butterfly that is found in the northern United States and Canada. It is usually found around wetlands, such as wet meadows, swamps and bogs. I photographed this one at the Big Bog State Recreational Area last summer.

This species over winters as a caterpillar so there are typically two broods per year. The first brood begins to emerge around mid may and the second begins around July. The larval host plants are members of the violet family, which you can see the butterfly above is perched on. The species gets its name from the large silver-white triangles that border the under side of both fore and rear wings.